…Raj Venkatesan, a professor of business administration from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, says that the potential for job displacement in the trucking industry is largely misunderstood.
For the foreseeable future, he explains, even autonomous trucks will still have “drivers” in the cab as a safety measure, to be on hand in case of mechanical problems or even speak to police in the event of an incident on the highway.
“It’s not clear at all now whether there will even be displacement,” he says. “You need the back-up driver. Within the next five or 10 years, it seems reasonable to expect some movement towards autonomy, but with a co-pilot. In my view, it’s like a long-haul flight. The plane can be put on autopilot, but you still have the pilot.”
That seems a reasonable assumption but make no mistake jobs will be lost.
